HARPERS FERRY - Looking for grammatical errors and missing sentences, Kevin Carden began searching through the ordinances of Harpers Ferry to make corrections. As the town's recorder, that is part of his job. Upon flipping through the Human Relations Commission article, though, he realized that something very important to him was missing.

Carden is a father and a United States Army veteran. He is also the first elected official in West Virginia to be recognized by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Institute.

"I was working my way through the ordinances, and I came across the Human Relations Commission ordinance. It listed groups protected from discrimination, and sexual orientation was not one of them," Carden said.

Not long after his discovery, a representative from the Victory Institute contacted Carden asking if he knew about the ordinance and encouraged him to pursue an amendment. With that in mind, he contacted the ordinance review committee and got to work.